


A Nightmare

by Claude_Lawless



Category: Speakeasy Tonight
Genre: F/M, Nightmares, Sleepy Cuddles, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-14
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-11-13 23:49:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11196030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claude_Lawless/pseuds/Claude_Lawless
Summary: After a particularly rough nightmare, our flapper's lover finds a way to soothe her.





	A Nightmare

_A dark, echoing cavern... A thunderous explosion... A shrill scream... Falling to the ground... Can't move, can't see, can't breathe..._  
  
For the third time in three days, I woke with a start, distressed and disoriented. Even though I knew I was in my bedroom in Uncle Charlie's house, every night my mind went back to that morning at LaSalle Station. How close I came to losing my friends, my lover, my own life. Anxiety crushed my chest, choking me and making my breath ragged.  
  
The blankets beside me shifted. Strong, smooth arms draped around my shoulders and pulled me close to a warm chest.  
  
“Something wrong, _acushla_?” Gerry asked quietly.  
  
I shook my head and took a deep breath in an attempt to steady my voice. “Just a bad dream. I'm... I'm fine. It's silly.”  
  
His grip grew firmer. “Seein’ as you're shakin’ like a leaf in a storm, forgive me not believin’ you.” He tipped my chin up to look at him. Concern darkened his face, lips turned into a frown. “Tell me what happened. I won't laugh.”  
  
There was no doubt in my mind that he would keep his promise, but I just couldn't bring myself to speak. It really was silly. It was over, done. Lynch was six feet under and Bea home safe. There was nothing to worry about.  
  
“It's nothing,” I said. Gerry just raised an eyebrow. “I'll be fine. Don't worry.”  
  
After a moment, he sighed. “Can't say I didn't try,” he said.  
  
He clicked the light off and laid back down. I followed suit. Wrapping an arm around my waist, he pulled me close, my back flush against his chest.  
  
“Is there anythin’ I can do to ease your mind, at least?” he murmured. “Seein’ you like this... Makes me nervous, it does.”  
  
I smiled. “Just being here... Holding me, talking to me... It's enough.”  
  
He huffed. “Better’n nothin’, I suppose...”  
  
A thought came to me. Thunder terrified me and Hazel when we were kids, but Momma would calm us down by telling us about how it was just angels bowling.  
  
“Gerry, tell me a story that would put you to sleep.”  
  
He must have dozed off, because the reply was slow and slurred. “Whazzhat, _‘cushla_?”  
  
“Tell me a story.”  
  
A long moment of silence followed, long enough that I thought he'd fallen asleep again. But then he spoke, his warm breath tickling the back of my neck. “ _In ainm an Athar agus an Mhic agus an Spioraid Naoimh_...”  
  
I didn't understand a word of it, but I didn't need to. Just the sound of his smooth tenor and his touch were enough to soothe my frayed nerves. A reminder that he was here next to me, warm and safe and not dead in the ground, victim of some crazed, delusional gangster. Just thinking about what could have happened to him and Bea made my chest ache all over again, but I just took a deep breath and focused on the song-like lilt of the words.  
  
His voice trailed off into a low murmur, eventually stopping altogether. Just as well, as my eyelids were getting heavy and my mind starting to slow.  
  
I pulled the blankets tighter around us and took a deep breath. “I love you, Gerry,” I said quietly. He couldn't hear me, but I wanted to let him know anyways.  
  
As I drifted off to sleep, I heard a little laugh. “Church always put me to sleep, too.”  
  
“What?”  
  
He didn't answer right away, instead yawning and burying his face in my neck. “Too tired to think of a story, so I jus’ recited a Mass... Been years since I set foot inna church an’ yet I still remember it... A funny thing it is, memory...”  
  
Any other time and I'd have been annoyed, but I was too close to sleep to care. I'd give him what for in the morning.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this](http://otpprompts.tumblr.com/post/161579124400/imagine-person-a-of-your-otp-is-bilingual-and) @otpprompts post and my own strategies for when I can’t feckin sleep.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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